In his 1975 hit “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” country musician David Allan Coe sings that “the only time” he knows he’ll hear his name called is “when Jesus has his final judgment day.”
Mr. Coe may want to add a new lyric about a federal judge beating the Good Lord to the punch.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the country and western singer was sentenced by a federal judge to three years probation and ordered to pay $980,000 in restitution to the IRS as punishment for evading taxes.
Mr. Coe pleaded guilty to the charges last September.
“Coe’s manager would pick up the money, pay himself and the band, and then give the remaining money to the country artist,” country music website TheBoot.com explained. “[H]owever, according to the news release [from the U.S. Attorney’s office], Coe would not accept $50 bills because ‘he believed they were bad luck and would not gamble with them.’”
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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